You might say I'm re-creating this blog after a long absence. Aurorean readers are promised musings of the editor (that's me) and Aurorean-related updates here. And so it shall be—since I have found refreshment of strength and spirit and have felt created anew (as well has having created anew) after two back-to-back writing retreats in the Adirondacks.

In the first, "Life Writing in Nature," a weekend workshop facilitated by Ellie O'Leary, the question was raised, "What if you wanted to write?" She emphasized "moving through it," meaning beginning with genres that came easy and continuing on. The first genre mentioned was the letter. Everyone writes letters—even if in the form of e-mail. We were asked to pick one element from nature to fall back on should we get "stuck" in our process. I chose a birch leaf and one evening on my way back to my cabin, I was lucky enough to get the photograph above of sunlight streaming through birch leaves. Could I write a letter to my birch leaf? Yes, I did! We moved through essays, memoir, and poetry.

In my letter, I questioned the birch leaf about budding in the spring. How does it feel to push through, to claim life, while some of last year's leaves still clung on? In my poem (a haiku) the entire matter had been worked through (because of the other genres I'd been encouraged to experiment with): soft-budded birch leaf— last year's brittle one still there— you must take its placeWe were reminded to fall back on letter-writing if we were having a hard time with another genre. We were made to feel as if where we were in our writing was okay. To write about the thing that speaks to us, to write in the genre that works for us. To be sure, I will take Ellie's workshop again. I found recreation as well as renewal at this place in the Adirondacks known as Pyramid Life Center. I have had health issues over the past months and had been feeling as if some of my independence (and thus self-confidence) had been eroding. Since Lyme disease left me with a heat intolerance, getting out to enjoy (recreate, restore, refresh!) activities in the summer can be challenging. As a matter of fact, after a seven-hour drive and arriving at the retreat center, I felt certain I was not going to be able to stay. My room was upstairs in Cabin 3. There were several bunks to choose from, but it was about 100º in there. The super-helpful staff brought me two large fans, but the fans just cranked in more hot air. I felt defeated. After explaining my situation in detail to the staff, I was given a new cabin with a room on the first floor. Although it was a more difficult climb to the new cabin, I felt such an overwhelming sense of relief and gratitude to the young men who helped me move my baggage to the new cabin. They were patient, kind. Even if they did not grasp the full gravity of my unusual health situation, they made it okay.

In the winter, I find restoration and refreshment in snowshoeing. In the summer, swimming is good. Hiking, another of my outdoor passions, is not possible right now with my physical limitations. Canoeing with my husband is nice, but I am of very little help to him hoisting a 75-pound canoe onto our roof racks. So what was I to do to find that much-needed relaxation and re-creation? I bought a kayak. A kayak that is small, lightweight (I can throw it in my Toyota!), and stable. Of course, I had no idea how to kayak and I also have a fear of drowning. In true Pyramid-serendipitous-style, I met a gentle, kind, patient outdoorswoman who was willing to teach me the ropes (or the paddles). As I fell getting in the kayak the first time, it was okay. As I created my own method of getting out of the kayak for my own body's quirks, it was okay. This was a new-found freedom: A boost to my self-confidence; a way for this poet to get out in nature in order to recreate and create. Robin Follette changed my life. Her blog is "Robin's Outdoors," and you can find it here: http://robinfollette.com/.

The second retreat was a women's writing retreat. Once it began, I was invited back to Cabin 3 (on the first floor! easier to get to!) by Diane Kavanaugh-Black, who I now refer to as my "roomie." She was the one (unbeknownst to me) who told the staff I needed help the first evening. She invited me to share her two-bunk room. She made everything okay. We made fast friends and Diane and I enjoyed kayaking with Robin. Ooh, here I am right here:

Diane is an essayist, memoirist and photographer (and I would add, Yoga Woman Extraordinaire). Her blog is "Of-the-Essence" and it can be found here: OfTheEssenceBlog.com. The point of this entire post is to say: we writers need to tell ourselves its okay to take the time for re-creation. If we can't actually go to a retreat, we can make a mini-one of our own. We can sit outside in nature (or just as easily, in a city café) and retreat from the daily must-dos and shoulds just for a little while. We need to renew and refresh, in order to create anew. It is okay to give ourselves that permission. In my next post, I will talk more about the five-day women's writing retreat and its impact on me as a person and as a writer. Stay tuned…

The benefits to our submitters will be many. No more printing your submissions, stuffing the envelope, addressing it, checking and paying for postage (and return postage) and mailing the submission to make a deadline. Poets can submit from the comfort of home (or wherever they happen to be); and they can submit right up until the minute before deadlines if they wish. Also, international poets will be able to send their work with much greater ease. No more worries about International Reply Coupons.

Of course, we hope you take as much care as you would with a postal submission—in that you polish, proof, and send us your very best work.

Speaking of postal submissions, they are still welcome if necessary/or the preferred method of submission. Please remember that all-important SASE.

Devin has done all the behind-the scenes work to get our online submissions process up and running and I owe him a great debt of gratitude—not only for his hard work—but for helping me move into this next, new and exciting phase of our journey!

Thursday, August 16, 2012

In the Aurorean's most recent blog, I mentioned that I was set to attend the Frost Place Conference on Poetry and Teaching. I did so almost two months ago, in an idyllic setting (the picturesque Franconia, New Hampshire 1915–1920 homestead of Robert Frost). You can visit the Frost Place website at: http://www.frostplace.org/

Both are gifted teachers. I'd had the opportunity to workshop poems with Baron prior to attending the Conference. What struck me most was his generous spirit, and his ability to direct a workshop in a gentle manner. I would use the words "conduct" and "lead" to describe his process. Often in a workshop setting, the word "critique" would be used. ("Critique" and "cringe" are close neighbors.)

Dawn has been published in the Aurorean (and in our new reprint anthology; see below); we have nominated her work for the Pushcart Prize, and I've been fortunate to hear her read her own poetry. I'm also acquainted with Dawn via social media, so I knew I would be experiencing something unique and special at the Frost Place.

One of the first things mentioned by Baron and Dawn is that poetry is an emotional gift. Secondly, it was said, it is also a director into language. And the next item mentioned was my Frost Place Great Epiphany. It was said that if people don't meet a conductior of poetry, they will never get on the (metaphorical) poetry train. Through my work with the Aurorean, I attempt to be a poetry conductor. But most people I encounter (readers/contributors) have already boarded the train. I also work with elementary students on a volunteer basis, and I feel as though I am inviting them to get on the poetry train at an early age.

The ephiphany for me is that I re-remembered what it is I want to do. I want to teach poetry—specifically, the appreciation of poetry. In my adult life, I went to college part-time for almost ten years, and finished in 2005 with a BFA in Creative Writing. I've facilitated workshops for students and adults. I began teaching poetry through the Maine Adult Education system in 2006. But I encountered a roadblock. In Maine, to become certified as an Adult Education instructor, I had to undergo a background check complete with fingerprinting (no problem), and I also had to take an exam in reading (flying colors), writing (flying colors again) and math (fail). The bottom line is: even if I had a doctorate in poetry I could not receive my Adult Education certification in Maine unless I passed the math test.

Therefore, I gave up on receiving my certification (I'd been tortured enough by mathematics in my college career) and I taught Adult Education poetry classes uncertified (definition: for less pay than if I was certified). I did so until I got sick in 2007. After a long struggle to find the proper diagnosis (Lyme disease), then came the struggle to recover. After eighteen months of treatment, and several months after treatment, I am finally almost fully recovered. Thus, the desicion to go to the Frost Place.

So how to teach poetry to adults? Get a math tutor? Emphatically, no. Apply for a master's degree program? Yes! I am ecstatic to say I will be pursuing my MA in English/Creative Writing beginning next month. I'll kill three birds with one stone: no math necessary (!); I'll receive a more comprehensive education in English than I now have; I will be able to teach at the college level.

I will be able to hand out the invitation "All Aboard the Poetry Train!" when I am done. I want to share my enthusiasm for poetry with adults who may be at the stage I was back in 1994 when I began college at a community college and had the good luck to meet my personal poetry conductor, my English Comp II professor.

I'd encourage anyone interested in poetry and teaching to take advantage of the programs offered at the Frost Place. It was recently announced that Baron has taken on a new role, as director of Educational Outreach. Dawn will stay on as director of the Conference on Poetry and Teaching and the two will work closely together. I'd venture a guess that participants in any program at TFP come away with their own personal poetry epiphanies.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

2012 has been a whirlwind!

The first part of the year had us super-busy with promotion and sales of Nectar, the (amazing) winning manuscript by Lisa Bellamy of Brooklyn, from our first yearly chapbook competition (published in December of 2011). If you missed out on that news, click here (where you can also link to PANK's review):http://www.encirclepub.com/store/product/nectarNectar has been wonderfully received.

We're gearing up for and already taking submissions in this year's contest. Publication will again be in December and the winner will receive $100, 50 copies, 10% royalties and various promotional items. For downloadable guidelines, click on the above link. The deadline for online entry fee of $15/registration is 9/1/12. So polish up your very best (and please follow guidelines carefully)!

We are very happy to announce that beginning this year, we will offer publication contracts to a select number of finalists in each year's chapbook competition.

January was an exciting time for me with the release of my co-edited anthology, Women on Poetry: Writing, Revising, Publishing and Teaching (McFarland). My co-editors on this project are Colleen S. Harris and Carol Smallwood. Women on Poetry has garnered great reviews, including a two-page spread in The Writer (March 2012) written by Lee Cart who said, in part: "Imagine having more than 40 fellow female poetry writers all gathered in one room, all willing to give you useful advice on the how and why of writing poetry. One by one, these women pull you aside and whisper in your ear their individual take on the writing process or the publishing world. They give you checklists, worksheets and questions to ponder. They provide personal examples from their own writing lives to help you learn what they have learned. Their overall intent is to improve your own poetry-writing experience and to convey their love of the writing process and of poetry in general." And then there's this quote from Supriya Bhatnagar, Director of Publications, Asssociation of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP): "This excellent and most comprehensive collection of essays, by some of the finest minds in contemporary poetry, encompasses everything a student or teacher of poetry is looking for." Colleen, Carol and I hope this book will find a home in many Creative Writing classrooms (McFarland offers free examination copies to instructors at http://www.mcfarlandpub.com/?page_id=106) and on the shelves of women poets of all walks of life. Women on Poetry is available from the publisher, Barnes & Noble, or on Amazon (in paperback and Kindle):

Much of late winter and early spring were spent putting together our Spring/Summer Aurorean (Volume 17; Issue 1). We debuted the issue during National Poetry Month at the Massachusetts Poetry Festival's Small Press & Literary Magazine Fair. The issue sports a purple lupine on the cover (one of New England's most welcome spring sightings) and features the poetry of Dave Reddall and Kimberly Cloutier Green along with over seventy-ish other poets. Link right to the issue (and to our YouTube video featuring a poem each from our Featured Poets) at http://www.encirclepub.com/poetry/aurorean. We have already begun reading for Fall/Winter 2012–2013 (pub. date: late October) and look forward to your submissions (received-by deadline: 8/15/12).

Presently, we find ourselves full of excitement to announce the Aurorean's first-ever reprint anthology, The Aurorean Editors Present a selection of Favorites from the first fifteen years. Devin and I spent months pouring over the first fifteen years of Aurorean issues. We chose many poems that we considered "favorites," but eventually narrowed our selection down to approximately ninety poems from seventy poets (from over 1,000 poets we'd published). It has been a huge undertaking, from the reading to the selections, to tracking people down, some of whom we'd lost contact with—and are delighted to be back in touch with. We are aiming for an end-of June publication date and hope you will enjoy the compilation. The anthology will contain three sections, "Seasons," "Meditations" and "New England" and will include a retrospective introduction from me, tracing the journal's history and milestones. It will be finely and specially produced for this occasion, perfect-bound with approximately 100 pages. You can pre-order now at http://www.encirclepub.com/store/product/favorites

And I am looking forward to late June when I will be attending the Conference on Poetry and Teaching at the Frost Place. I have wanted to attend this conference for years, but illness prevented me from doing so. I'm happy to report that my Lyme disease is under control and I am feeling much better. I love the poetry of Robert Frost, I love his "Place" in Franconia, New Hampshire (I try to visit every year for inspiration) and I am delighted to have been accepted to work with Director Baron Wormser (former Poet Laureate of Maine) and Associate Director, poetess extraordinaire, Dawn Potter. My work will be focused on teaching haiku to and workshopping poetry with elementary students—a passion of mine. For more information on the Frost Place, visit http://www.frostplace.org/index.html. If you are in the White Mountains, add a visit to the Frost Place to your agenda. You'll be glad you did. (See website for information on visiting times and hours.)

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Where (oh where?) did 2011 go? While it's not officially time to take down the 2011 calendars and replace them with 2012, the time is indeed close at hand. As the years go by, those monthly pages on the calendar seem to need turning ever-more furiously. And sometimes it's mid-month before the pages do get turned. While the passing of time seems to speed up exponentially as we get older (and I know there's some mathematical reason why it seems that way), most of the time it's from sheer busy-ness that I can't quite keep up with time's passing.

In the last few months, I've not kept up with my blogging as I should. I am not one to make New Year's resolutions (for we all know how those go), but instead, I like to try to implement permanent behavior changes. Goodness knows there are many things I'd like to work on and change permanently, but I am going to focus on the regularity of blog posting as a top priority. Blogging is writing—and as writers, we know that the only way to accomplish writing is to do it. Waiting until the time is right or until the spirit moves us does not get it done. I'm likely to have more success with this blogging-more change in behavior than with trying to eat less ice cream. I know how that goes.

Here at the Aurorean, much of the passage of 2011 has been spent not only with our biannual Aurorean publication and all that entails, but in carefully planning and launching our expedition into the world of chapbook publishing. Yes, we have published chapbooks and full-length books of poetry in the distant past (before the widespread usage of the World-Wide Web and its promotional advantages for authors and publishers), and more recently, full-length collections—in 2007, one by small-press great B.Z. Niditch; in 2010, an anthology of poems by Maine Poets Society members; and earlier this year, a collection each by Margaret Rockwell Finch and Marta Rijn Finch, co-presidents of Maine Poets Society.

But beginning this year, we branched out to offer a yearly chapbook competition through Encircle Publications. The above image is of the end result. As with the Aurorean, we wanted the end result to be a work of art—not just the art of the poetry inside, but the art of the presentation. We wanted to offer a reasonable entry fee and ease of submission process. We wanted to become a chapbook publisher that does everything we can to help our authors succeed. We wanted to find the best manuscript from those submitted. We determined to judge the manuscripts blindly—removing identifying information and any list of submitters' publication credentials from the manuscripts themselves. The editors also approached each reading without potentially-biasing comments from the other editor. Comments were shared and discussions held only after both editors read each manuscript personally with fresh eyes. The field was narrowed as we proceeded, and on we went to first, second and final rounds. A winner was declared with anticipation, excitement and a sense of accomplishment. Regarding the winning manuscript, both editors were in absolute agreement.

This first time out, the winner has set the bar high for our future annual contests. That is a good thing. It will insure that as editors, we keep our poetry judging and all-around quality-control thinking caps on at all times. Eleanor Lerman, author of The Sensual World Re-Emerges (Sarabande Books) had this to say: The question that begins Lisa Bellamy's elegant and eloquent collection of poems is a poignant one: are we all "just wind and gristle"? In the pages that follow, this skilled poet goes on to assure us that we are not. In fact, the healing light of our humanity suffuses all our days, as do our memories of our mothers, our home towns, our childhood prayers, and the sight of the stars overhead each night. Sadness is everywhere, Bellamy tells us—but like the bees "mixing nectar with tears" to produce honey—so is joy.

Our first press run arrived just today and we have been busy packing orders and copies requested by reviewers. We hope you will see what fuels our enthusiasm. Copies of Nectar can be ordered (shipping always included) here: http://www.encirclepub.com/store/product/nectar Let Bellamy's amazing poetry serve as your companion as you put up that new 2012 calendar and journey into the new year. As well, join us in 2012—share your work with us by submitting to the Aurorean (Spring/Summer deadline: February 15th). See http://www.encirclepub.com/poetry/aurorean/guidelines Or, submit to our 2012 chapbook competition (deadline to register for online entry: September 1st). See http://www.encirclepub.com/chapbookcontest

I wish all of our Aurorean friends a warm holiday season and a poetry-filled 2012!

Saturday, September 10, 2011

For this month’s blog Cynthia has asked me to chime in on what its like to serve the Aurorean as an assistant editor. Frankly this is one of the very few jobs I’ve worked that I can say is taken with a deal of pleasure and excitement. This is especially true when we approach the production of a finished product. Certainly it’s not all sun and rainbows but the tasks that fall on the mundane side of things (going through the mail, acknowledging submissions) aren’t physically or mentally challenging in the least and can be accomplished swiftly with a cup of tea at my side and a cat on my lap. Other tasks do require a bit more moxie but that’s where the fun comes in.

Over the course of a reading period my eyes are often the first ones to get a look at the submissions that roll in. After a good chunk has piled up I take it home for the weekend and when I’ve got a few hours to spare I sit down with a cup of coffee and begin my reading. The fun comes when I find a gem. The truth of the matter is that those gems are really few and far between. I’d guess that the Aurorean accepts poems from about 10% of the manuscript submissions it receives (even less if we break it down by individual poem). This means I read A LOT of poems that won’t make the cut. It’s easy sometimes because it’s usually very clear when someone has not read our guidelines or is unfamiliar with the Aurorean and what we publish.

Cynthia and I talk time and time again about how wasteful it is of a poet’s time and money to submit blindly to publications without ever having read said publication or adhered to said publication’s guidelines, not to mention our own time in responding to submissions that clearly aren’t for us. It doesn’t matter. We can scream it till we’re blue in the face but the fact will remain the same; a good 30% of our submissions can easily be rejected almost out of hand because they fail to meet simple guidelines. A good chunk of other poems might meet our guidelines but fail for all sorts of other reasons (lack of focus, unoriginality, vapid lines, shoddy line breaks with no appreciation for natural rhythm, natural pauses, or the sound and sense a poem begs to impart to one's ears). Sometimes a poem is rough for one of these reasons, yet a keen editor’s eye can buff out a rough spot and make the poem shine. If I see a spot that needs buffing I’ll point it out but I’m certainly not paid to revise or reconstruct a whole poem or even explain in great detail why a poem can’t cut it. Suggested revisions of poems are things a poet accepts or not. I write comments for Cynthia to read on all the manuscripts I see. Sometimes the comments are brief like “Nothing here grabbed me,” “such-and-such is a nice poem, I love the imagery” etc. Sometimes they’re more voluminous like when I see a rough spot that just needs a buffing. After commenting they then go to our Editor.

Sometimes we both wrestle with a poem together because it has merits but needs two editors’ eyes to make it shine. Sometimes a poem has some brightness to it but it takes a set of two eyes to see why it’s really a muted brightness (against all the other accepted ones) and needs to be rejected. We can’t publish every good poem we get. We have space restrictions and this means that good poems often get squeezed out. No biggie, we’ll encourage the poet to try again.

This leads me to impart some tips from my perspective on how to give yourself the best chance at publication in the Aurorean.

1. Read the latest issue. When you’re done with that read another issue.2. Read our guidelines. Learn them, live them, love them.3. Read your poems aloud. If it doesn’t sound right it isn’t.4. Revise, revise, revise, and if you can and have the inclination to do so then join a group where you can also workshop your work and get feedback for the revision process.5. Submit early. As Cynthia’s last blog indicates, we work in increments and accept poems in batches throughout the reading period. We always know how many we’ve accepted and how many more we need to accept in order to fill our pages. Good poems get squeezed out the closer we get to our deadline.

We’re now in our Spring/Summer reading period, which means the Fall/Winter 2011/12 issue of the Aurorean is due out in a little over a month. We’ve still got a lot of typing and proofing to do before it goes to print. Then will come the exciting part, the finished product’s arrival, the packing and the mailing, that beautiful little journal finally in our hands. It’s always a thrill to hold that thing and flip through it.

With last year’s Fall/Winter issue, we added a new multi-media addition and it’s something we hope to continue. After the journal has been packed and mailed Cynthia and I will take to our sound studio where we’ll each record a reading of our featured poets’ work and one other poem from the issue for use in a poetry journal trailer that we’ll post to our site and youtube.com to help promote our journal and our poets. Besides being fun and often hilarious to make (after 10 takes we start to lose our marbles and often fall into uncontrollable fits of laughter) I think these trailers are a wonderful addition to the journal, and a nice way to showcase our featured poets’ work. If you haven’t seen our first two trailers you can view them here

Friday, August 5, 2011

It is to my embarrassing astonishment that I have been so utterly remiss in my Aurorean blog. I like to post at least once a month. As you can see, two months have completely slipped by. How time flies when you're having fun? Yes, and no.

On the yes side: We are having SO much fun sprinting to the Fall/Winter submission deadline of August 15th (we are buried in terrific poems). And we are beginning to become happily inundated with manuscripts for our new chapbook contest (check out http://www.encirclepub.com/chapbookcontest) with a deadline of September 1st.

On the no-fun side: I have been dealing with doctors' appointments, a giant insurance company and medication (and its side effects) around Lyme disease. If you are interested in checking out my more personal blog dealing with Lyme disease, visit http://writinglyme.blogspot.com.

But, no matter getting sidetracked, we are on-target as we should be for late-October release of our Fall/Winter issue. This is due in large part to the support and help I receive at home from my husband, and, on the office-front, from my Assistant Editor Devin McGuire. Who will be our Fall/Winter Featured Poets? Showcase Poets? Bookend poets? What fall (or winter) delight will readers see on our cover? Of course, I can't reveal those secrets now. But to make sure you don't miss out, reserve your copy at http://www.encirclepub.com/store/product/340.

As most of us are, I am well-practiced in being sidetracked by life, and over the course of almost sixteen years of publishing, I'm proud to say that the Aurorean has only become sidetracked from its publication date goals very rarely. I know what it's like to be overwhelmed with deadlines, so I try to eliminate that problem by continually reading for the next issue. Soon after one issue is released, any poems that may have been accepted for the next issue (due to seasonality) are typeset and proofs sent out. Then, we begin anew. There is always a "mock" Aurorean (an Aurorean-in-progress) sitting next to me. At any given point in a reading period, we know how many poems we have accepted and how many we still need to fill our pages. If I had to do it all at once, I couldn't do it—whether it be sending acceptances, returning/replying to the poems we can't use, typsetting poems/bios, making proof corrections, or managing the mailing list. Working in workable increments works well.

If we get thrown by anything unexpected, we can easily catch up and then make our to-the-printer target date. Our printer needs the digital files to be uploaded by the beginning of the month of publication for a late-month release (and I must admit, my husband helps greatly on the office-front too, as he works "computer magic" and uploads our files).

So onward we race to the next exciting compilation of fall/winter/New England/seasonal/meditaional/uplifting poetry! (In increments.)